Greatest not famous athlete you ever saw

terrynever

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I’m going to go for a kid named Chuck Crist from Salamanca, NY. He was MVP in four sports in high school, then came to Penn State in 1969. He was asked to pick between football and hoops. Chuck wanted to play quarterback but Paterno saw the 6-2, 200-pounder as a DB so he said no to Joe and played hoops for four years, then walked on with the New York Football Giants as a DB, spent seven years in the league, made 20 INTs, MVP on defense for Saints in 1977. Then he returned home and played fast-pitch softball before turning to golf. Raised a family, taught school, got sick and died at 69. A full life, cut short. Attached is a wonderful obit from Chuck Pollock of the Olean, NY Times Herald.

Chuck was the greatest all-around athlete I saw at Penn State in the 1970s. Jack Ham was a close second. Both could jump through the roof.

If anyone wants to add their own relatively unknown athlete of great prowess, feel free.

https://www.oleantimesherald.com/olean/unpretentious-crist-leaves-a-lasting-legacy/article_369abcd7-f00b-5381-a4de-fd05b13a6687.html?fbclid=IwAR08yKLyWpE2I6tuQNWZi4LBBMUmnin_cvLfL6JeLLxt9y5uEQeMhQpNtLI
 

Ferm Sheller

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Are you talking in person? I saw Bo Jackson play in KC and at Fenway and he hit like a 9000 foot home run at Fenway. It's gotta be him for me.
 

terrynever

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Are you talking in person? I saw Bo Jackson play in KC and at Fenway and he hit like a 9000 foot home run at Fenway. It's gotta be him for me.
No. Maybe a hometown kid or someone from college, not famous.

edit: fixed thread title
 

Monbo Jumbo

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When I was a kid attending BC hockey games, BU's Herb Wakabayashi regularly lit up BC. He was too small for the NHL, but he had all the tools. I know he's in BU's HoF. He went on to coach a couple of Japanese Olympic hockey teams in the 70s and was very active in hockey development for Japan.
 

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Anyone who remembers NFL player Brian Mitchell probably remembers him as a kick returner for Washington , but when I was a kid growing up in Lafayette, LA, I knew him as the greatest dual-threat QB in Ragin' Cajuns history. He was like a miniature Michael Vick, or Tommie Frazier with a better arm. Everyone thought he was too small to play QB in the NFL but Washington drafted him anyway, figuring that he was a gifted enough athlete that they'd find a position for him. He ended up a return specialist despite never returning kicks in high school or college.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Hmmmm......Of guys I actually knew, I played Legion ball with a guy named Kyle Frank that was in the Yankees organization for a while, but never got higher than low A ball. I played baseball with Freddie Myer, was a hell of a hockey player (I didn't play) but he was on the Islanders for 7 or 8 years. Jamie Keefe was a friend of my sister, he got to AAA with the Pirates. Ruben Boumjte Boumjte, Mike Sweetney and Kevin Braswell in college hoops, I somehow ended up at the same dining hall tables as those guys.
 

JGray38

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I went to high school and ran track with this guy, who cleared 7'+ in the high jump as a high school senior (set an all New England high school record at the time). When other kids were doing their warmup jumps at 5' or so, he'd just hurdle that; run straight at the bar and bound over it. Or he'd just flip himself over the bar without a running start. Good hurdler too. He was good friends with two twin brothers who were all-state 400 runners. I went out one Halloween with those guys and was a teenage pain in the ass stealing pumpkins and shit. Not a good plan. I was fast, but those guys left me in the dust wondering if I'd get caught every time. Edit - we'd fuck around in the gym before track practice, and he'd try out Jordan-like dunks from the foul line. He was maybe 6'1". It's amazing what you can do with a 48" vertical.
 
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PseuFighter

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If you're on the south shore, does the name Marc Stanton ring a bell? Quarterback for Weymouth my dad took me to see many times as a kid, was heavily recruited, probably could've gone anywhere, but my understanding is his grades weren't the hottest and may have had other issues. Here's a story about the famous Weymouth/Brockton Thanksgiving game of 1991 that he was part of, where my feet froze and my grandfather walked me out of at halftime (my bad, didn't dress for the elements properly at 6 years old):

https://www.wickedlocal.com/article/20111121/News/311219825
 

terrynever

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I went to high school and ran track with this guy, who cleared 7'+ in the high jump as a high school senior (set an all New England high school record at the time). When other kids were doing their warmup jumps at 5' or so, he'd just hurdle that; run straight at the bar and bound over it. Or he'd just flip himself over the bar without a running start. Good hurdler too. He was good friends with two twin brothers who were all-state 400 runners. I went out one Halloween with those guys and was a teenage pain in the ass stealing pumpkins and shit. Not a good plan. I was fast, but those guys left me in the dust wondering if I'd get caught every time. Edit - we'd fuck around in the gym before track practice, and he'd try out Jordan-like dunks from the foul line. He was maybe 6'1". It's amazing what you can do with a 48" vertical.
We had a high jumper from the next town over, Bristol, just north of Philly, named “Beanye” White, who regularly cleared over 7 feet. Beanye had a knack for writing bad checks. He tried out for the 1972 Olympics while on leave from the Centre County jail. But his most famous effort came when he was jumping in the Millrose Games. He spent the afternoon playing pool in Bristol, and probably doing other stuff. Got on the train to Penn Station, changed into his track gear, jumped 7 feet, and returned to his pool game by midnight.
 

terrynever

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Hmmmm......Of guys I actually knew, I played Legion ball with a guy named Kyle Frank that was in the Yankees organization for a while, but never got higher than low A ball. I played baseball with Freddie Myer, was a hell of a hockey player (I didn't play) but he was on the Islanders for 7 or 8 years. Jamie Keefe was a friend of my sister, he got to AAA with the Pirates. Ruben Boumjte Boumjte, Mike Sweetney and Kevin Braswell in college hoops, I somehow ended up at the same dining hall tables as those guys.
I batted against a future big league pitcher named Bill Dillman in a legion game with two outs in the last inning. Looked over to my bench and everyone was taking off their spikes. I looked at three pitches I only heard and headed back to the bench. Guys with big league skills were in another league.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I batted against a future big league pitcher named Bill Dillman in a legion game with two outs in the last inning. Looked over to my bench and everyone was taking off their spikes. I looked at three pitches I only heard and headed back to the bench. Guys with big league skills were in another league.
Kyle pitched but he was more a CFer, played at Clemson on at least one or two NCAA championship teams ~ 2000ish. The kid just had "it"; the swing, the arm, speed, everything. One of the guys in my wedding played ball with Chris Carpenter he said he was the same way. Some guys just stand out.
 

terrynever

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Kyle pitched but he was more a CFer, played at Clemson on at least one or two NCAA championship teams ~ 2000ish. The kid just had "it"; the swing, the arm, speed, everything. One of the guys in my wedding played ball with Chris Carpenter he said he was the same way. Some guys just stand out.
The level of major college scholarship athletes is so high. I knew guys at Penn State who were all-county high school stars and they could only play intramurals in college. Sometimes they would play hoops with a scholarship athlete and would get crushed. Watching Jack Ham play intramural hoops in college was amazing. He jumped over everyone.
 

54thMA

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I batted against a future big league pitcher named Bill Dillman in a legion game with two outs in the last inning. Looked over to my bench and everyone was taking off their spikes. I looked at three pitches I only heard and headed back to the bench. Guys with big league skills were in another league.
Had a similar experience in a Lou Gehrig league playoff game vs Metheun back in 1976, faced Steve Bedrosian, never saw any of his pitches, only heard the hissing sound as they whooshed past me. Well in fairness he was two years older than me.............I keep telling myself that to make me feel better.

In high school we had a shortstop named James Fabiano, just an incredible ballplayer, as smooth of a fielder as you'd ever see, hit for average and power, hit .500 his senior year, went to then powerhouse University of Maine, was drafted by the Red Sox, was in single A ball and his knee got blown out by a baserunner as he tried to turn a double play and that was that.
 

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I'm not sure what qualifies as "famous," but we had season tickets to 87-88 Merrimack College hockey, and it was kind of an insane season where a Division II team (Merrimack, at the time) that went 25-0 in its conference was invited to the NCAA championship. They beat Northeastern in the first round, and nearly beat the eventual tourney winner Lake Superior State in the quarterfinals (they won the first game, lost the second by more goals, so were out).

Anyway, that Merrimack team had an insane player and an insane goalie, Jim Vesey and Jim Hrivnack, respectively. They both ended up in the NHL but didn't do much. But they were like men amongst children whenever Merrimack played another Div II team, and when they played even a team like Northeastern or B.U., they were just as good as the stars on those teams.

And then they graduated and Merrimack made the choice to move to Div I and were dog shit for like 20 years.
 

terrynever

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Had a similar experience in a Lou Gehrig league playoff game vs Metheun back in 1976, faced Steve Bedrosian, never saw any of his pitches, only heard the hissing sound as they whooshed past me. Well in fairness he was two years older than me.............I keep telling myself that to make me feel better.

In high school we had a shortstop named James Fabiano, just an incredible ballplayer, as smooth of a fielder as you'd ever see, hit for average and power, hit .500 his senior year, went to then powerhouse University of Maine, was drafted by the Red Sox, was in single A ball and his knee got blown out by a baserunner as he tried to turn a double play and that was that.
That’s a whole new category. Great athletes who were felled by injury before they could succeed. We had a high school pitcher from Pawtucket who was drafted in the first round by the Twins in maybe 2004. Jay Rainville. He cruised through his first year in the minors, throwing upper 90s. Then the velocity fell off and shoulder surgery was performed. Shoulder surgery is never a good thing. His velocity did not return. Jay is a policeman now in Rhode Island. He gave all he could but his body did not hold up.
 

terrynever

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I'm not sure what qualifies as "famous," but we had season tickets to 87-88 Merrimack College hockey, and it was kind of an insane season where a Division II team (Merrimack, at the time) that went 25-0 in its conference was invited to the NCAA championship. They beat Northeastern in the first round, and nearly beat the eventual tourney winner Lake Superior State in the quarterfinals (they won the first game, lost the second by more goals, so were out).

Anyway, that Merrimack team had an insane player and an insane goalie, Jim Vesey and Jim Hrivnack, respectively. They both ended up in the NHL but didn't do much. But they were like men amongst children whenever Merrimack played another Div II team, and when they played even a team like Northeastern or B.U., they were just as good as the stars on those teams.

And then they graduated and Merrimack made the choice to move to Div I and were dog shit for like 20 years.
Yes, this fits the thread line. Men among children is a great way to describe what stud athletes look like. You don’t have to be a pro scout to pick out the best athletes in a game.
 

EnochRoot

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As a freshman back in '84-'85 I went to South Catholic High School in Hartford, CT. I had PE with one Ricky Bottalico. He's a year older than I am (I just checked bb-ref), which is weird because this was supposed to be freshman PE. I'm guessing he was held back a year.

So anyway, he's already had his growth spurt, and I'm about 5'2" around that time. Every activity the guy was a ruthless maniac. Hockey? He'd hip-check you into the wall where those hilariously awful pads would do nothing for the pain. Baseball outside? He'd throw 90 MPH and strike everybody out. He was like the bully in Back to the Future. Anyway, we were playing dodge ball one class (yeah, it was about as fun as you'd imagine) when the PE coach/instructor called time and started reading some announcement he was handed. Stoppage of play. Everyone is listening, except for me. There was Botallico, paying attention to the coach, dutifully listening.

I threw that jelly ball as hard as freakin could and nailed Botallico in the face. The class exploded in applause. I knew I'd get my ass kicked for doing it, but the opportunity was too rich to pass up. He hip-checked me into the wall the first chance he got, but he was actually pretty cool to me the rest of the year.

I moved to Florida with my family the next year, and the other near-famous athlete story involves having home room my sophomore year at Palm Beach Gardens High School with Darren Studstill. We used to play Blackjack to pass the time until first period.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
 

wiffleballhero

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In the simulacrum
Karen Wood.

High school basketball player in NH in the early 1980s.

Dominated like an adult playing against little kids, or so it seemed. Almost singlehandedly won the state championship as a freshman and then the next three years. Dominated the state all star games as well. I can't show my work because I don't know how to track it down at this point, beyond this (Class S 81-84):
http://www.nhiaa.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CHAMP Girls Basketball 2020.pdf
Edit: my only-by-rumor memory of this is that she went to either BU or Northeastern but badly hurt her back(?) before her first season and never saw the floor in college.
 
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54thMA

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Yes, this fits the thread line. Men among children is a great way to describe what stud athletes look like. You don’t have to be a pro scout to pick out the best athletes in a game.
Absolutely, they stand out and make everyone else look silly.

Played against Pablo Reyes in the park League, a lefty who threw gas, I think he had a cup of coffee with the Rays, also Billy O'Leary from West Roxbury, I think he got drafted by the Mariners.......also played with Walpole Joe Morgan's son in the park league, I think he got drafted too, not sure how far up the ladder he got.
 

54thMA

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The level of major college scholarship athletes is so high. I knew guys at Penn State who were all-county high school stars and they could only play intramurals in college. Sometimes they would play hoops with a scholarship athlete and would get crushed.
This is why I laugh when someone says professional football/baseball/hockey/ basketball player X "sucks".................they stood head and shoulders above every kid growing up, went on to stand out in most cases in college, then was signed/drafted and rose up the ranks/became a professional athlete.

They in the top 1% of their chosen sport, yet they "suck"..................again, it's laughable.
 

terrynever

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This is why I laugh when someone says professional football/baseball/hockey/ basketball player X "sucks".................they stood head and shoulders above every kid growing up, went on to stand out in most cases in college, then was signed/drafted and rose up the ranks/became a professional athlete.

They in the top 1% of their chosen sport, yet they "suck"..................again, it's laughable.
Thought this many times myself.
 

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I used to play pickup basketball with a guy who allegedly broke Kobe's HS scoring record.
 

The Filthy One

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Maybe he's too famous for this, but I saw Dorsey Levens score 50 points in a high school football game. Against a good A (or maybe AA) high school in Upstate New York. This was a team that competed in the state tournament every year, and he made them look like a Pop Warner team. He even kicked some extra points. It was like the Forest Whitaker game in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Levens played both sides of the ball and was terrifying.

In the even more obscure category, this kid Scott Knapp played high school basketball near me. He started for the high school team in 6th grade and went on to play at Sienna. Best shooter I've ever seen. I think if he were playing now, Syracuse would have recruited him, given the emphasis on the 3, but maybe I'm wrong.
 

terrynever

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Were you at PSU in 1973?

Any idea why Notre Dame got to play Alabama instead of PSU that year for the National Championship?

There were what, 6 unbeaten teams that year?

Unbelievable.
Bear Bryant ran college football in the 1970s the way Mitch McConnell runs the Senate today. The top bowls came to him first when his club was on top. In 1973, Bama was ranked No. 1 and Bear chose No. 4 Notre Dame as his opponent in the Sugar Bowl. He did a solid for Ara Parseghian. That was just the way things were done when the bowls ruled. I think there were just five unbeatens that year.

Ohio State was No. 2 and had to go to the Rose Bowl. Penn State was ranked fifth and settled for the Orange Bowl. Oklahoma was no. 3 and bowl ineligible. Bear chose a team he thought he could beat. ND. Irish won 24-23. I think that was the Dave Casper game.

Paterno was in awe of Bear Bryant in those days. He was young and Bear was like John Wayne. Bear eventually chose to play an average Nit team in a 1975 Sugar Bowl game. In 1978, both the Nits and Alabama were unbeaten. Nits were ranked No. 1. Joe could have chosen someone besides Alabama but he owed Bear a favor. And he wanted to beat the best. He lost, 14-13, despite having the better team.

People think the modern playoff system has flaws. The 1970s were a mess.
 
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terrynever

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Maybe he's too famous for this, but I saw Dorsey Levens score 50 points in a high school football game. Against a good A (or maybe AA) high school in Upstate New York. This was a team that competed in the state tournament every year, and he made them look like a Pop Warner team. He even kicked some extra points. It was like the Forest Whitaker game in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Levens played both sides of the ball and was terrifying.

In the even more obscure category, this kid Scott Knapp played high school basketball near me. He started for the high school team in 6th grade and went on to play at Sienna. Best shooter I've ever seen. I think if he were playing now, Syracuse would have recruited him, given the emphasis on the 3, but maybe I'm wrong.
Thanks for this. We all grew up in different places. There are so many local legends all over this country. Springsteen wrote Glory Days after reflecting on this subject, although certainly Dorsey Levens went on to a prominent career. More often than not, the big high school star comes back from college or the pros after falling short.
 

54thMA

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Bear Bryant ran college football in the 1970s the way Mitch McConnell runs the Senate today. The top bowls came to him first when his club was on top. In 1973, Bama was ranked No. 1 and Bear chose No. 4 Notre Dame as his opponent in the Sugar Bowl. He did a solid for Ara Parseghian. That was just the way things were done when the bowls ruled. I think there were just five unbeatens that year.

Ohio State was No. 2 and had to go to the Rose Bowl. Penn State was ranked fifth and settled for the Orange Bowl. Oklahoma was no. 3 and bowl ineligible. Bear chose a team he thought he could beat. ND.

Paterno was in awe of Bear Bryant in those days. He was young and Bear was like John Wayne. Bear eventually chose to play an average Nit team in a 1975 Sugar Bowl game. In 1978, both the Nits and Alabama were unbeaten. Nits were ranked No. 1. Joe could have chosen someone besides Alabama but he owed Bear a favor. And he wanted to beat the best.

People think the modern playoff system has flaws. The 1970s were a mess.
Sounds more like a gold old boys club than a playoff system.

Thanks for the history; that's just nuts.

Back then certain schools were locked in to certain bowls, PAC 10 and Big 10 played in the Rose Bowl no matter what, correct?

The Sooners were 10-0-1 and ranked 3rd but were bowl ineligible.

That's comical that Bear got to pick who he played; didn't turn out the way he hoped apparently.
 

terrynever

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Sounds more like a gold old boys club than a playoff system.

Thanks for the history; that's just nuts.

Back then certain schools were locked in to certain bowls, PAC 10 and Big 10 played in the Rose Bowl no matter what, correct?

The Sooners were 10-0-1 and ranked 3rd but were bowl ineligible.

That's comical that Bear got to pick who he played; didn't turn out the way he hoped apparently.
Each of the four major bowl games were run by powerful people deeply connected to college football. The Rose was locked in, as you point out, but the Orange, Sugar and Cotton started working on recruiting schools by early November. We have some powerful coaches in today’s game but nobody has the power Bear Bryant had accrued by the 1970s. Once Bear started recruiting black players, his teams were hard to beat.
Penn State began recruiting blacks in earnest after Rip Engle became coach in 1950. They got Lenny Moore, Rosey Grier and Jesse Arnelle in the early 1950s. Lenny Moore is still considered the greatest Nit player ever. The Reading Rocket.
 

BaseballJones

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Maybe he's too famous for this, but I saw Dorsey Levens score 50 points in a high school football game. Against a good A (or maybe AA) high school in Upstate New York. This was a team that competed in the state tournament every year, and he made them look like a Pop Warner team. He even kicked some extra points. It was like the Forest Whitaker game in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Levens played both sides of the ball and was terrifying.

In the even more obscure category, this kid Scott Knapp played high school basketball near me. He started for the high school team in 6th grade and went on to play at Sienna. Best shooter I've ever seen. I think if he were playing now, Syracuse would have recruited him, given the emphasis on the 3, but maybe I'm wrong.
Where were you then? Because I went to SU and covered high school sports and one of the most amazing things I ever saw was Dorsey Levens catch an alley-oop and flush it one handed. The pass was thrown by Craig Caldwell (who went on to play at Cleveland State) from well in front of the half-court line.

Just an inexpressibly great athlete, Levens. Amazing basketball player and obviously went on to win the Super Bowl with the Packers (over New England... booo).
 

The Filthy One

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Craig Caldwell was a baller, I remember him too. I grew up in Oneida, and I was about 10 or 12 then. But I saw those guys play a lot of basketball and football games. The Levens game was against Whitesboro. I could be mistaken but I think Whitesboro lost two games that year. And one of them was to Levens (and I guess the rest of the Nottingham team). At least one of the TDs was a pick 6 and I think he recorded a safety too. Unreal.
 

jaytftwofive

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Don Saleski (Big Bird) played for the Flyers. Blair Thomas, Penn State All American and NFL running back. They're may have been more. Not including autographs. OH Larry Anderson. Former Phillies,Astros, Red Sox pitcher. We know him of course for being traded for Jeff Bagwell. I brought that up. I met him in 1997 and after I brought that up his reply was "Hey I didn't ask for the trade, don't blame me.....You guys(Red Sox fans) should just get over it" Good sense of humor. He is now the Phillies color announcer.
 

jaytftwofive

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Oh Aaron Mckie, NBA player, Jameer Nelson, Delonte West, Kerry Kittles former Villanova All American and NBA player. Mckie coaches with my nephew for Merion/Waldon Academy Middle School in Merion Pa.
 

jaytftwofive

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Bear Bryant ran college football in the 1970s the way Mitch McConnell runs the Senate today. The top bowls came to him first when his club was on top. In 1973, Bama was ranked No. 1 and Bear chose No. 4 Notre Dame as his opponent in the Sugar Bowl. He did a solid for Ara Parseghian. That was just the way things were done when the bowls ruled. I think there were just five unbeatens that year.

Ohio State was No. 2 and had to go to the Rose Bowl. Penn State was ranked fifth and settled for the Orange Bowl. Oklahoma was no. 3 and bowl ineligible. Bear chose a team he thought he could beat. ND. Irish won 24-23. I think that was the Dave Casper game.

Paterno was in awe of Bear Bryant in those days. He was young and Bear was like John Wayne. Bear eventually chose to play an average Nit team in a 1975 Sugar Bowl game. In 1978, both the Nits and Alabama were unbeaten. Nits were ranked No. 1. Joe could have chosen someone besides Alabama but he owed Bear a favor. And he wanted to beat the best. He lost, 14-13, despite having the better team.

People think the modern playoff system has flaws. The 1970s were a mess.
Casper played but the biggest catch of the game was a 3rd and long that went to back up WR Robin Weber. That sealed the win.
 

jaytftwofive

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Were you at PSU in 1973?

Any idea why Notre Dame got to play Alabama instead of PSU that year for the National Championship?

There were what, 6 unbeaten teams that year?

Unbelievable.
Penn State had a tie I believe. I could be wrong. I stand corrected. They were undefeated but they only played 2 top 20 teams. Notre Dame played a tougher schedule.
 

Kliq

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Phil Pressey was four years older than me, but I played against him in youth basketball as a kid. He did a year at Waltham High School before going prep, becoming one of the top recruits in the country and going to Missouri. He had a cup of coffee in the NBA with a few teams, including the Celtics, but was too small and couldn't shoot well enough to stick in the NBA. He's gone on to play with some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

The best pure athlete I knew growing up was Nathan Pierre-Louis, who was the Massachusetts and New England champion in the 100m, 200m and 400m my senior year of high school. Easily the fastest person I've ever seen in my entire life; he went on to run track at Indiana. He played soccer with me in high school and he starred as a sweeper; we played a crazy high line on defense and dared teams to beat us over the top because Nathan could chase down ANYTHING. He actually made a lot of mistakes, but just had the natural athleticism and speed to make up for it. Multiple times a game an opposing player would get loose and think they were 1-on-1 with the keeper only for Nathan to chase them down; it was kind of like how LeBron lets ball handlers get by him on purpose so he can block their shot from behind. It killed coaches and alumni that he didn't play football.
 

terrynever

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Phil Pressey was four years older than me, but I played against him in youth basketball as a kid. He did a year at Waltham High School before going prep, becoming one of the top recruits in the country and going to Missouri. He had a cup of coffee in the NBA with a few teams, including the Celtics, but was too small and couldn't shoot well enough to stick in the NBA. He's gone on to play with some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

The best pure athlete I knew growing up was Nathan Pierre-Louis, who was the Massachusetts and New England champion in the 100m, 200m and 400m my senior year of high school. Easily the fastest person I've ever seen in my entire life; he went on to run track at Indiana. He played soccer with me in high school and he starred as a sweeper; we played a crazy high line on defense and dared teams to beat us over the top because Nathan could chase down ANYTHING. He actually made a lot of mistakes, but just had the natural athleticism and speed to make up for it. Multiple times a game an opposing player would get loose and think they were 1-on-1 with the keeper only for Nathan to chase them down; it was kind of like how LeBron lets ball handlers get by him on purpose so he can block their shot from behind. It killed coaches and alumni that he didn't play football.
That’s a pretty amazing triple in the sprint races on a regional level. Your description of Nathan using that speed in soccer is well done. I think when we boil down all the elements that comprise athleticism, running faster than anyone else is the most dynamic.
 

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Played against/with Carl Corazzini in youth hockey and baseball. For some reason, he was in my division in hockey (ages 9-11, I think? Probably played Junior Bruins and in this league just for fun). He would routinely score within 10 seconds of face-offs. He also hit a triple off me in Little League...on a pitch that I was trying to intentionally walk him on.
 

wonderland

New Member
Jul 20, 2005
525
We had a high jumper from the next town over, Bristol, just north of Philly, named “Beanye” White, who regularly cleared over 7 feet. Beanye had a knack for writing bad checks. He tried out for the 1972 Olympics while on leave from the Centre County jail. But his most famous effort came when he was jumping in the Millrose Games. He spent the afternoon playing pool in Bristol, and probably doing other stuff. Got on the train to Penn Station, changed into his track gear, jumped 7 feet, and returned to his pool game by midnight.
I saw Nathan Fields from pretty rural West Virginia clear 7ft in the high jump. They had to get cinder blocks to keep raising it. He cleared 7ft 3 inches at the state meet and just missed an inch higher. Saw him dunks few times, just glided and so effortless.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
I saw Nathan Fields from pretty rural West Virginia clear 7ft in the high jump. They had to get cinder blocks to keep raising it. He cleared 7ft 3 inches at the state meet and just missed an inch higher. Saw him dunks few times, just glided and so effortless.
West Virginia has produced some great talent over the years. My favorite was Danny Buggs, a WR at WVU in the early 1970s. He broke a long TD down the sidelines against Penn State. His running motion was so fluid, it was said you could have put an apple on top of his helmet and it would not have fallen off.
 

SoxJox

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2003
7,082
Rock > SoxJox < Hard Place
I would say he's at least known, if not well known..but certainly not famous. A classmate and baseball teammate of mine at Hempfield HS in Landisville (Lancaster), PA.

Tom Herr.

Your classic HS stud. Star QB, leading scorer as shooting guard, shortstop. Signed by the Cardinals in '74 as an amateur FA and went on to play 13 seasons - mostly as a second baseman. When looking at best double play combinations in MLB history, he and Ozzie Smith are almost always in the top 5.
 
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wonderland

New Member
Jul 20, 2005
525
West Virginia has produced some great talent over the years. My favorite was Danny Buggs, a WR at WVU in the early 1970s. He broke a long TD down the sidelines against Penn State. His running motion was so fluid, it was said you could have put an apple on top of his helmet and it would not have fallen off.
He was before my time but I’ve certainly read about him.

Another guy Brandon Barrett. He was from the eastern panhandle and a pretty big recruit. Didn’t qualify as a freshman in 2004 but walked on the team eventually. Was the mvp of the 2006 spring game and looked fantastic. But it fell apart for him and he was booted from the team. If he was there in 2007, West Virginia would’ve won the national championship.